Farewells, little else await Bush in Europe

When U.S. President George W. Bush makes his final tour of European capitals next week, he can expect a less-than-fond farewell on a continent where leaders are already looking past him to his successor.

Behind the smiles and handshakes, there will be quiet relief among his European hosts who see an end to the Bush era as a chance for the next president to repair a U.S. image abroad that has been damaged by the Iraq war and other policies.

Bush will use a U.S.-European Union summit in Slovenia as a launching point for his June 9-16 trip and then will travel to Germany, Italy, France and Britain - trans-Atlantic partners with whom he has not always seen eye to eye. He also will visit Northern Ireland and meet Pope Benedict at the Vatican.

Despite his busy itinerary, Bush's tour will be a reminder of his waning international influence as the world waits to see whether fellow Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama wins the White House in the November election.

"Bush will travel in a little bubble from palace to palace," said Joseph Cirincione, a Washington foreign policy analyst. "He'll have welcoming ceremonies, photo ops, even some praise - and then he'll be quickly forgotten."

With less than eight months to go before Bush leaves office, European leaders are expected to offer him little if anything to narrow the gap with Washington on issues like climate change, a resurgent Russia and a defiant Iran.

Mindful that Bush is even more unpopular across much of Europe than he is at home, the White House itself has no lofty hopes for Bush's trip, which is expected to draw large protests in countries where anti-Bush sentiment runs highest.

Still, Bush aides are hopeful his personal diplomacy with allies like France and Germany will help put once-bitter divisions over Iraq behind them, giving a much-needed boost to his battered legacy.

"I don't think you're going to see dramatic announcements on this trip," said Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser. He said the goal instead would be limited to trying to "advance the ball" on a range of issues.

As the Bush presidency winds down, the White House also wants to showcase improved relations with Germany, France and Italy under ideologically like-minded leaders and safeguard America's "special relationship" with Britain.

"OBAMA-MANIA, EUROPEAN-STYLE"

But wherever Bush goes, he will find Europeans increasingly focused on whomever will succeed him in January 2009.

"Leaders in Europe are already looking beyond Bush and apart from a few things that can still be done with him the attention is now on Obama and McCain," said Antonio Missiroli, research director of the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

Across the continent, there are hopes the next U.S. president will adopt a different approach from what Bush's critics have derided as "cowboy diplomacy."

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, seems the favourite among Europeans. A recent poll in London's Daily Telegraph showed him with 52 per cent support across five major countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, while McCain received only 15 percent.

"It's Obama-mania, European style," said Reginald Dale, a European affairs expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They're nuts about him."

Many Europeans admire Obama's stated willingness to talk to Iran and other U.S. foes largely shunned by Bush and also like his promise to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Obama and McCain both win high marks in Europe for calling for the closing of the Guantanamo military prison where terrorism suspects are held and for pledging tougher action to address global warming.

Although his days in office are numbered, Bush intends to use his European swing to prod allies to step up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program and back his "major economies" process on climate change, an approach critics say could undercut U.N. frameworks for combating the problem.

But Bush already has seen the limits of his ability to sway world events. At a Bucharest summit in April, NATO leaders reluctant to antagonize Russia rebuffed his bid to put Ukraine and Georgia immediately on the path to membership.